Afghanistan- Trusting Taliban would be a 'big mistake': Graham to Trump

KABUL: Soon after reports surfaced that US President Donald Trumpwas set to meet with his national security team Friday afternoon to discuss apending peace agreement with the Taliban, US Senator Lindsey Graham, a vocal oppositionto Trump, warned him against withdrawing troops from Afghanistan in a deal withthe Taliban.

As a peace deal with the Taliban seems just around thecorner, the possibility of a US troop pullout has raised deep concerns withinthe US military and among some lawmakers that the situation in Afghanistancould quickly deteriorate and plunge the country into a new civil war, helpingto turn it into a sanctuary for Al-Qaeda and other extremists.

Graham in this regard said that any final deal should allowthe US to maintain a military presence in Afghanistan to pursue resurgentterror groups.

"Any peace agreement which denies the U.S. a robustcounterterrorism capability in Afghanistan is not a peace deal. Instead, it ispaving the way for another attack on the American homeland and attacks againstAmerican interests around the world."

He said that President Trump should learn from PresidentObama's mistakes. 'Be smart, take your time, and listen to your nationalsecurity team,' he added while addressing Trump.

'To trust the Taliban to control al-Qaeda, ISIS-K, and otherradical Islamist groups present in Afghanistan – as a replacement for a UScounter-terrorism force – would be a bigger mistake than Obama's Iraniannuclear deal,' he maintained.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the US special envoy for Afghan reconciliation,has been negotiating with the Taliban for months on a deal to end America's warin Afghanistan that would see a withdrawal of troops in exchange for assurancesfrom the group that it would not let the country become a base for terroristorganizations to launch attacks against the US.

Khalilzad said the last round of talks earlier this monthwas 'productive,' though a deal's finalization has been hindered by theTaliban's refusal to enter intra-Afghan talks.

The Pentagon has about 14,000 troops in Afghanistan on adual mission of both training, advising and assisting local forces in the fightagainst the Taliban and running counterterrorism operations against groups likeal Qaeda and ISIS.

This comes as there has been no letup in violence in the wareven as talks continue.